


There's no escaping your love

by sadie2504 (orphan_account)



Category: Captain America (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Eventual Sex, Falling In Love, Friendship, Love, M/M, Romance, Sexual Tension, Slash
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-06
Updated: 2015-07-30
Packaged: 2018-04-07 22:53:49
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,398
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4281012
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/sadie2504
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve and Bucky start college with hopes and dreams in their hearts; little did Steve know that he'd soon find the most perfect senior year student to trigger all his deepest feelings and desires.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

“You know, it’s times like these when I wonder if I made the right decision about living with you”, said Steve from his bed with a little smile, rising up his eyes from his book. Bucky had just come out of the bathroom with a towel held to his front, turning around and giving him a full view of his butt as he walked; “what are you talking about? We’ve basically lived together all of our lives, we just made it official this time”, he said nonchalantly and walking to his side of the closet, taking a pair of briefs out and putting them on. Steve snorted and shook his head, looking back to his book but didn’t return to reading, “I know, I’m kidding. I’ve seen your butt a thousand times anyway” he said, and heard Bucky chuckle, “see, it’s comments like those that make people wonder if we’re a couple”, he said jokily, and Steve was the one to laugh this time. 

 

“It’s an I’ve-seen-your-butt-a-thousand-times-in-a-brotherly-kind-of-way thing”, he said; Bucky laughed and answered quickly, “you should be happy if people thought you were my boyfriend though, it’d be a huge upgrade from that last dude you dated”, he said and shivered lightly, “ugh”, he added, remembering him. Steve laughed and shook his head, “he wasn’t that terrible, and also, gross? You’re like my brother, man”, he said, exchanging a jokingly disgusted look, just to make a point. Bucky squinted at him playfully for a couple of seconds, then shrugged and put his pajama shirt on, “yeah it’d be a very complicated type of gay incest, I don’t feel like getting into that any time soon –he said, and Steve rolled his eyes with a smile, knowing he was joking and just being an ass – also, I’m planning to start this semester completely unattached so the girls know I’m available”. Steve snorted, “we haven’t started classes yet, you don’t even know any girls here, yet I know your plan comes from the heart”, he said, amused by his best friend’s necessity of having a little taste of every single girl he set his eyes on, and the worst part was that it usually worked; Bucky just smiled brightly at him.

 

He had always found it funny how different they both were, and he thought that was why they complimented each other so well; Bucky had always been some sort of Casanova and Steve was all the opposite, not because people weren’t interested –because they were, especially after his growth spurt and sudden discovery of love for sports back in high school- but he had been brought up by a very conservative family (finding out he was gay had already been a big surprise for everyone) and his own moral didn’t let him act or think the way Bucky did about dating. He was thankful though that Bucky had basically taught him everything he knew in this area because otherwise he’d be completely lost, and he wasn’t a prude or anything like that but he had a more romantic way of thinking and had hopes of finding his soul mate and fall madly in love. He also knew Bucky had caught up on some of Steve’s more “old-fashioned” attitudes, as he liked to call them, so with the years he had become some sort of good-hearted player.

 

“What time’s your first class tomorrow?” asked Bucky as he threw himself on the bed, and Steve knew his schedule by heart but he checked anyway, “it’s uh –he started as he unfolded the paper on his nightstand- 8:30 am. Yours too, right?” he said, looking at the clock and realizing it was time to sleep if he wanted to be in his five senses tomorrow; all the moving in to their shared room in the University’s residence building had been long and slow, and a bit exhausting. Bucky nodded, “yup, 8:30 –he said with a yawn- I’ll miss having classes with you, it’s weird to know we’re not sharing the same schedules and teachers after having the exact same classes since elementary school”, he said, looking at Steve from his bed. Steve smiled melancholically, “I know. It’s great that we were both accepted here and we can live together, though. Not all friends get to do that”, he said, and Bucky nodded and smiled at him; “let’s sleep before we start crying or something”, he said, turning on the bed and causing Steve to chuckle, “yeah. Big day tomorrow. G’night Buck”, he said, stretching to turn the lights down; “night, Stevie”, he heard Bucky say, and smiled at the endearing nickname his friend had so often used on him since they were six; he just let Bucky and his mother call him that.

 

-o-

 

“And then she started talking about the use of social media for underdeveloped countries and how to help them by using these technologies”, said Bucky as he helped Steve to lift the bar for his chest routine, “I think I love her, man”, he added with a little sigh, and Steve chuckled, concentrating on the weight so he didn’t answer right away. He placed the bar back in the rack above him with a relieved and tired huff, “man, I should start a list of all the women I’ve heard you say you’re in love with”, he panted good-heartedly, and Bucky whined, “Whatever dude, she’s gorgeous, too. I’ll ask her out next week, you’ll see”, he said, and Steve smiled at him, coming up from his place and Bucky replacing him; they were doing the same routine in the gym and they usually took turns to help the other out and have little resting minutes in-between. “I never doubted that, Buck. She’ll say yes, don’t worry”, he said with a little pat to the bar to let him know he was ready to help him, and saw Bucky smirk a little right before starting his lifts. “So, apart from falling in love around five times a day, you had a good first week of University, didn’t you?”, he asked, looking down at him and placing his hands on the bar just for support, seeing Bucky’s determinate expression, “yeah – he said a bit breathlessly- I think Marketing was a good decision”, he said quickly, and Steve nodded. They had spent all their high school senior year talking about Bucky’s career options since he kept changing his mind every week; he had always been intense and hyperactive so he wanted to encompass every single BA he set his eyes on. At the end he had decided on Marketing, since it was the one that had caught more his attention for a longer period of time, and his family and friends all agreed that it was a perfect career choice for him. Steve had known since moment one that he’d end up choosing that one and that he’d be perfectly happy with it, but Bucky had his own times and rhythm so he had just let it sink in on him. 

 

“And how are all the geeks on your classes?” asked Bucky jokingly and Steve punched his arm lightly as they walked to the weights area and picked up a pair to take them to the bench they had adopted as their weight-lifting official spot a few days ago. “They’re not geeks”, he said with a little laugh, not very sure that he believed his own words. “C’mon Rogers, just embrace it, Art History? Alright, they’re artsy geeks –he said, sitting on the bench and taking a sip of his water- just like you, babe”, he said with a bright smile, and Steve knew he was just messing with him. “Yeah well, you fucking love me anyway”, he said with a shrug, and Bucky chuckled, nodding. “Damn right I do”, he said, starting the weights routine. Steve shook his head with a little smile; Bucky had always good-heartedly picked up on him, like an older brother, so he knew it was all in good humor, but he was actually a bit right about the artsy-geekness (not that Steve didn’t love every second of it) and it only made him proud and happy that he had been able to choose the BA he had known he wanted for years, that his family had supported him even if it wasn’t commonly a big money maker career, and that he was able to meet people who had the same interests than him. He didn’t have too many classmates like Bucky did, but he had already made a couple of friends in his first week, Peggy and Darcy, since he shared all his classes with them. They were two intelligent, beautiful and girl-empowering women that had caught Steve’s attention since moment one. Darcy was an out there, very perky type of girl, reminding him a bit of Bucky since she was funny and cute and a bit arrogant in the very best of ways; he had wanted to be his friend instantly. Peggy was more intellectual but very funny too, with a more sophisticated type of humor, probably because she was British, and she had a vintage vibe to her that Steve knew if he didn’t like men, he’d be head over heels for her in a second.

 

“Here you go”, said Bucky when he finished his reps, and left the weights on the bench for Steve to lift them. “Thanks”, said Steve as he took Bucky’s place and started, instantly loving the burning feeling on his biceps and shoulders. They did their different routines and repetitions with the weights, and when Steve was getting ready for his last one, he heard Bucky say “oh, wow”, a bit to himself, and he looked up at him quickly. “What?” he asked, knowing he had probably seen some girl doing squats or something; Bucky was facing him and looking behind Steve, but right before Steve could turn to look too, Bucky said, “don’t look right away, but there’s a guy that looks like a fucking Viking right there –he was basically staring and it burned Steve up with curiosity since Bucky never mentioned anything about men- he’s even taller than you. Damn, I want to ask him for his routine”, he said with a little frown, and Steve chuckled as he turned around slowly, being as discreet as his curiosity let him. 

 

“How does he look li-…oh”, he interrupted himself, his brows lifting a bit. There he was, a Viking indeed. He wanted with his entire mind and body to look away but he couldn’t: this man glowed with perfectly sunkissed skin, with muscles and hair that lasted for days. He did look taller, bigger than Steve and the sole acknowledgment of it made his stomach twist and turn and his fingertips tingle. He swallowed heavily and turned back slowly with a blush on his cheeks, just to find Bucky smirking at him with a raised eyebrow. “I didn’t know you liked blondes”, he said teasingly, and Steve rolled his eyes at him with a little smile, “I didn’t, either”, he said, and Bucky chuckled, “he’s hot, go talk to him”, he said, reminding Steve of some of their girl classmates in junior high talking about boys. He laughed, “yeah, right. Like you don’t know me”, he said, coming back to lift his weights, fighting the urge to look again just to see if he was real and still there. 

 

“Ugh, you’re boring –said Bucky with a roll of his eyes- c’mon, Steve, even I wish I was gay right now so I could go and attempt to date him”. Steve laughed again, “emphasis in the word attempt”, he said, and Bucky kicked him lightly with a laugh, “he looks pretty unreachable Buck, and also pretty straight”, he said, his heart sinking a little when remembering this very probable option. Bucky looked at the Viking again and shrugged after a moment, “I’d give it a try, dude. Your eyes had little hearts in them a second ago”, he said, looking back at Steve with a little mischievous smile, spreading it to Steve. Bucky looked up again and his eyes widened, “he’s heading to the weights area, let’s go”, he said, pulling Steve up from his arm and reaching for the unused weight in the bench. Steve could have easily over-powered him and stayed sitting but it was all so sudden that before he knew he found himself walking towards the weights rack behind Bucky and whispering some panicked words, which Bucky decided to ignore. 

 

His eyes were widening as they got closer, and he was staring at the back of this man –which had the most delicious shoulder blades he had ever seen- getting paler when he turned around and saw them directly. Bucky had let go of his arm a few seconds ago, thankfully, and was muttering something to Steve in a very casual way, making him jealous of his wingman faculties. Steve was usually the wingman so he knew what Bucky was doing, attempting to look like they were there by chance, apparently to leave the weights back in place; he very quickly thought what Bucky would usually do in his place and he, first of all, turned to look away from the other guy to look at Bucky, who cocked his eyebrow a little as he kept talking about something about classes; Steve could see the amusement in his face, the motherfucker.

 

“Yeah, I know”, said Steve when Bucky stopped talking, not even knowing what he was saying but he tried to look as casual as possible. He could feel the nearness of this other guy and saw him turning to look for some weights in the racks with the corner of his eye, and saw Bucky noticing this too. He walked towards him and gestured Steve to follow him with a tiny movement of his head, placing his weight right next to the ones the guy was looking at. “Here are the 50’s, in case you wanted these”, said Bucky in a friendly manner, and Steve took a deep breath and followed suit, placing the other 50 pound weight he was carrying next to the one Bucky had just placed. The man turned to look at them surprisingly and smiled at Bucky with a nod, then crossed looks with Steve, his face and smile softening, a bit lingering. “Thank you”, he said softly, still looking at Steve and then quickly looking at Bucky to nod at him again, like he had just come out from a tiny trance, and Bucky didn’t miss this reaction. Steve smiled softly at him and paid attention at his handsome features now that he was close, feeling like he could look at him for hours, like one of those beautiful works of art in the MoMA, back home. 

 

“I was actually looking for those”, he said with a little smile, picking them up like they were paper thin and going back to his full height, towering over them. Steve gulped and fidgeted in his place, not used to look up at anyone, ever. He wasn’t too much taller than Steve, but his build and extremely manly features made him look like he was 3 feet taller than everyone, and it made Steve’s knees quaver a bit and his breathing to hitch, not remembering being so attracted to anyone ever before so quickly, just by his physique and that stupidly deep baritone of his. “Yeah, we figured”, said Bucky with a bright smile and extended his arm, “I’m James, but call me Bucky”, he said, then looked down at the other man’s arms realizing he was holding the weights and chuckled, “oh, sorry”, he added, taking his hand back. The man placed the weights on the floor quickly and came back up, extending his hand to Bucky, “I’m Thor”, he said, and Steve almost wanted to laugh; Thor, it figures. Bucky shook his hand and Thor quickly turned to Steve with a slight raise of his eyebrows, like he was waiting for his name; “I’m Steven”, he said a bit too nervous but offering him a smile that was warmly returned by Thor. “Nice to meet you”, he said, mostly to Steve but then politely looking at Bucky too with a smile, and Bucky nodded and let Steve answer, “nice to meet you too, Thor”.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!
> 
> I feel ready now to write a longer story about these two, we'll see how it goes. English isn't my first language so if you find anything that disturbs you, you can let me know :)
> 
> I don't own anything about these characters, just the story and my love for them <3
> 
> Hope you enjoy and let me know what you think!
> 
> Sadie


	2. Chapter 2

“I can’t believe it’s our first Saturday in College and we’re already getting together to study -said Darcy with a dramatic sigh and a frown– at least we’ve got brownies”, she added before giving a bite to the one resting on her knee. Peggy looked up from her book and smiled at her, “and coffee”, she said as she turned the page. “Well, if we finish with the material early we can have some rest before tonight’s party –said Steve with a little shrug and taking a sip of his coffee- and thank you for the brownies, Peg, you saved us from… not…having brownies?”, he added, and she chuckled and smiled at him too with a distracted “you’re welcome”, apparently too into her reading to actually say something else. Darcy chuckled and closed her book enthusiastically, “they’re awesome, we love you” she said and threw her body across her crowded bed to kiss Peggy’s cheek, causing both of her friends to laugh. Steve found it endearing that they had met just one week ago and Darcy was so outgoing to already tell them that she loved them, but it felt nice and he appreciated having met these two wonderful girls. 

 

“Okay, okay. Let’s take a break and then we continue, I can sense you need it”, said Peggy bookmarking the page she was in and leaving her book on her side. “Why’s there a party tonight, anyway?” she asked before taking a brownie and taking a bite, looking at Darcy and then Steve with big eyes. Steve smiled sweetly at her and could see a little blush coming to her cheeks, so he looked into his cup of coffee quickly. “I was told it’s a tradition amongst the students that seniors throw a party the first weekend of the school year to celebrate their last first Saturday of classes, if that makes sense. And well, they also include everyone else to celebrate the start of the year, I guess” explained Darcy, who was definitely the one who talked more to the rest of the students from the three of them, so she’d be the one with that type of information. Sure, Steve had Bucky who was in charge of telling him all these things, but as far as it went, Darcy was like a second Bucky. “You’re going, right?” asked Darcy, looking at Peggy. 

 

Peggy shrugged, “sure. I don’t think I have an option with you looking at me like that, anyway –she said with a little grin, then looked at Steve- are you going?” she asked, and Steve nodded, rearranging his position on his spot on the bed, feeling suddenly too big and wondering how he and two girls –along with their books, notebooks, a brownies plate and three cups of coffee- fitted in a single bed; good thing his two friends were tiny. “Yeah, Bucky’s been telling me about it all week- he said after a moment – and since he deliberately doesn’t have a date for it, he’d kill me if I didn’t go” he said with a little grin. “Oh, God” he added after a moment of looking at them and realizing something, and covered his face with his hand. “What?” they said in unison, and Steve snorted, shaking his head, “I apologize in advanced, Bucky’s going to try and hit on you tonight, both of you”, he said looking at them with puppy eyes. They burst out laughing, “how do you know? And why with both of us?” asked Peggy with a little laugh, taking another bite of her brownie with curious eyes. “Oh, because he can’t help to flirt with beautiful girls and you’re both – he traced what fairly seemed like the side of a curvy body with his hand, not giving it much thought– his type… to say it politely” he said with a blush to his cheeks. They both laughed again with an “aaaww” coming from Darcy, which only made Steve blush brighter. “You’ll see”, he said with a little laugh and a shrug, and ate another brownie just to have something to do with himself. “Thanks for calling us beautiful”, said Peggy sweetly, “hey, and what’s your type?”, asked Darcy with a mischievous grin, to which Peggy smiled and rolled her eyes. Steve coughed a little, choking on a piece of nut as he thought “blonde and muscly”, the face of the man he had met just yesterday projecting in his mind quickly, and shook his head, “I… don’t have one”, he answered coyly, not sure if he was ready to let them know he liked men. 

 

Darcy smirked and Peggy squinted, and with a shrug he said, “anyway, do you want me to come pick you up or we’ll meet up there?” looking from one to the other. Darcy chuckled and answered, “we can meet there, unless you want it to look like you’re dating both of us”, and Steve could sense a different tone in her voice, a bit more flirty, to which he tried not to panic about. Peggy elbowed her with a roll of her eyes, “we’ll meet you there, Steve, don’t worry, we’ll probably take longer or have dinner first, perhaps”, she said with her perfect British accent and Steve smiled with a little nod. “Yeah, that’s true, but thanks”, added Darcy; “Don’t worry about it. Let’s continue ladies, or we won’t even finish before we have to leave”, he said, rubbing his hands on his jeans before opening his book again to keep it from being stained, and saw the two girls nod and open their books after a moment too, falling into a comfortable silence. He internally laughed at himself as he read about early Greek art, since the sculptures reminded him inevitably of a certain perfectly sculpted blonde who looked like he was made out of marble, and found it increasingly hard to concentrate on his reading as a blush crept to his cheeks.

 

-o-

 

“Why? Why would you let perfect pecs like yours go to waste wearing that shirt? –asked Bucky as soon as Steve came out of the bathroom claiming he was ready – Honestly, man, if I had those I’d go shirtless”, he added, gesturing at Steve’s covered chest. Steve snorted, “what’s wrong with my shirt?” he asked, looking down at his clothes and pulling the hem of his shirt as for Bucky to see it was in perfect state. “Booo! It’s boring, wear something tighter”, he said, throwing a pair of socks at him. Steve rolled his eyes, “it’s not even loose”, he said, looking at the mirror and noticing it was actually a bit loose on him, but he wouldn’t accept that now. “Whatever, but your boyfriend Hercules might be there so –he shrugged – you know. Whatever, I don’t care”. Steve blushed and grinned a bit nervously, “shut up, you think he’ll be there? –fuck- what should I wear?” he said now a bit anxiously, and Bucky chuckled, “that’s the spirit!”, he cheered, throwing at him a pair of his own shirts which were a bit smaller because of Bucky’s build; they had proven before that Steve wearing Bucky’s shirts always worked wonders on getting whoever’s attention he wanted. He had obviously thought about the possibility of Thor being in the party because, even if they didn’t talk more than a minute in the gym, he could tell he was older than him, maybe a senior, so he’d probably be there or at least involved. It hadn’t seemed like a real possibility though, more like a fantasy until Bucky mentioned it, so now he was very nervous with this materialized idea of finding him there, maybe even getting to talk to him. He ended up deciding to wear a plaid shirt –a very tight plaid shirt- and dark jeans, along with his white converse shoes he rarely took off. He certainly looked better, or at least sexier (not that he’d admit that out loud) than with his previous outfit, so he patted Bucky in the back, once again thanking his friend’s fashion sense since his wasn’t very acute.

 

“I think it’s here”, said Bucky as they walked through the front yard of a big house very near the campus, a sorority house according to the Facebook event, and it was already filled with people, lights, and loud music. “No shit, Sherlock”, said Steve with a chuckle, and received a playful punch from Bucky, “shut it, Rogers”, he said with a little chuckle too, and they passed together through the door, Steve feeling suddenly out of place since he didn’t see any familiar faces. He settled on following Bucky amongst the crowd of people towards what was probably the drinks area. “Okay, here we are –he said as they approached what looked like an improvised bar, although they did have a bartender- hello! We’ll have two beers please”, he said merrily to the bartender, who extended two bottles at him quickly with a smile, attending some other guy immediately. “Sooo, it’s true it’s an open bar tonight… -said Bucky turning to look at Steve and handing him his beer – where do they get the money to do that, I don’t know”, he added with raised eyebrows, looking at all the people who attended the party: it was huge. 

 

Steve shook his head too in amusement, “me neither, I guess we’ll know when it’s our turn to throw it”, he said a bit loudly to be heard by Bucky over the music. They settled in a little space they found and talked about nothing special, and after a few minutes Steve heard a now familiar voice calling for him and turned around quickly, “Steve! Here you are!” said Darcy excitedly pulling Peggy behind her, holding hands to not get lost in the crowd, “hey! I was just going to text you”, he said as he received a hug from her and a bright smile from Peggy. “I didn’t think it’d be so crowded!” said Peggy with an amused look on her face, and Steve nodded before he felt a little kick on his foot, turning to look quickly at Bucky with a friendly squint; “girls, this is Bucky; Bucky, this is Darcy and Peggy”, he said with a little smirk, a bit too proud because of Bucky’s stunned look as he learned they were the Peggy and Darcy he’d been telling him about; “it’s a pleasure to meet you, ladies”, he said charmingly and smiling at them both, to which they chuckled and answered in the same way, “it’s our pleasure to meet you Bucky, you’re famous already”, said Peggy jokily, causing Steve to chuckle and Bucky to have a too-happy expression on his face.

 

“Why hadn’t you told me your friends were hot?” asked Bucky with an almost authentic offended expression on his face as the two of them went to get drinks for the girls; Steve shrugged, “I thought you didn’t like artsy geeks”, he said with a smirk, and Bucky rolled his eyes. “Yeah, I don’t like them yet I spend 24/7 with you. I’m offended man, they’re gorgeous and you hid it from me”, he said lightheartedly, and Steve laughed, placing his arm around his shoulders in a friendly manner, “I’m sorry, I hadn’t really thought of it until today and I wanted to see the look on your face when you met them –he said with a little chuckle, taking two beers in one hand- If you want to hit on one of them though, be nice and serious or I’ll kick your ass because they’re my friends and I’m stuck with them for the next four years” he added, and Bucky laughed too; “you’re right, I better go look for Pepper instead of flirting with your girlfriends”, he said. Steve elbowed him, “is she the one you wanted to ask on a date?” he asked, and Bucky nodded, looking around him before they arrived with Peggy and Darcy. 

 

After a while of talking and laughing about their first week of school experiences, a group of cheerful people stumbled next to them, a guy raising his arms and saying “BUCKY!” way too excitedly, to which the rest of the group cheered, causing the four of them to jump a bit and turn to look at them questioningly, except for Bucky who answered with an excited “dude!” too, hugging this man and waving at the rest of them with bright smiles and hello’s. Steve chuckled, Bucky had obviously become very popular in the first week, it was only his nature, and he felt proud of his friend. “Guys, guys! This is my friend Steve I told you about, and these are Peggy and Darcy –he said happily to him- everybody, this is Sam, we’ve got all our classes together”. Sam smiled and shook hands with the three of them and they all shared a bit of small talk, then he said something to Bucky’s ear with a smirk. Bucky made an excited face and said, “well, loves, if you’ll excuse me I’ll be right back!” he said, and winked at Steve, who understood said Pepper had been located somewhere and they’d go look for her. He shook his head with a smile, “good luck!”, he called, and the girls waved them goodbye. 

 

“You and Bucky are so different!” said Darcy, and Peggy nodded, “you must’ve been so adorable when you were little”, she said, causing Steve to laugh melancholically; “well, I don’t know about adorable but we had a great time. He used to protect me all the time from bigger kids, since I used to be very small –he said with a lopsided smile- he’s always been very protective of me, we’re like brothers”, he added, and his two friends looked at him with an endeared face. “I can’t believe you were small before - said Peggy, who barely made it to Steve’s shoulders – you’re so… big now”, she said, “to say it politely”, added Darcy with a mischievous grin, repeating Steve’s earlier words about them. Steve blushed with a laugh, starting to get used to Darcy being flirty and not getting all worked up about it. He saw his friends suddenly look behind him with raised eyebrows and heard Darcy say, “talking about big”, mostly to herself, and right before he could ask what she meant, he felt a warm, heavy hand on his shoulder and turned around quickly, gasping silently with surprise. 

 

“Hey! Steven, right?” said the man he’d been dreaming of the whole day and the night before, Steve almost forgetting how to speak. “Hey! Hi! ...Yes, yes. Steve” he said and chuckled nervously, turning to him, feeling his heart throbbing faster; he was there, and he said hi to him, and he remembered his name! What sort of magic was this?. “How are you, Thor?” he said after a moment of drinking in that gorgeous smile directed at him. Thor chuckled, “I thought you hadn’t remembered my name. I’m great, thanks, how are you?” he said, and Steve almost snorted, since his name was the only thing that had been in his mind since he had learned it. “I’m great, too” he said, then remembered his friends standing right behind him and felt very ill-mannered, so he quickly turned and opened up space to introduce Peggy and Darcy to Thor. He was all smiles and shook their hands heartily, and Steve could easily notice their almost drooling faces, which he didn’t judge at all; God, this man looked like he was made out of all the beautiful and delicious things in the world, the whole “sugar, spice and everything nice” recipe combined with huge quantities of fucking sexy. 

 

He saw Peggy quickly look at Thor and then at him with intelligent eyes, and they crossed looks, an understanding look on her face. “It’s been very nice to meet you Thor – she started, a sweet smile painting her lips, and taking Darcy’s hand – we’ll go get some drinks, we’ll see you guys later!” she said, and they were gone before Darcy could start to complain, leaving a slightly startled Thor and a smiling Steve. God, did he love Peggy right now. He made a mental note on owing her a big one. Then after a second he realized he had been left alone, with the most stupidly handsome man on earth, and his hands began to sweat, wishing for Bucky to be there with him and help him through it. 

 

“So, did your friend… Bucky, was it? – Steve nodded- did he come, too?” he asked, and Steve nodded again, “yeah, he’s around here talking to some girl he likes”, he said with a little shrug, and Thor chuckled, “I see. What else are parties for, right?” he said a bit jokingly and Steve smiled with a little bite of his lip. “You’ve been here long? Are you enjoying the party?” he asked politely, and Steve wanted to hug him for being so nice, “yeah! It’s great, I mean, I’m a freshman so I don’t know too many people but hey, free beer’s always welcome” he said raising his bottle with a little smile, and Thor smiled beautifully at him, causing Steve’s knees to buckle a bit; “I’m glad. It’s been a bit of a pain to put together so quickly but it’s been fun”, he said, and Steve raised his eyebrows, “you organized it?” he asked, and Thor kind of shook his head, “nah, not really, I’m a senior so we all worked on it a bit but I was far from organizing it, that’s not really my thing –he said, crooking his nose a bit, which Steve found endearing- I did help carrying all the beer boxes in, though” he added cheerfully, and Steve laughed. Of course he had. He quickly pictured his perfect arms carrying the heavy boxes, a drop of sweat running through his neck… God, stop it, Steven. He licked his lip a bit guiltily and took a deep breath, “well, thank you for that, I believe it was the most important task of all”, he said with a little grin, and Thor laughed merrily, “oh, well, you’re welcome, and cheers to that”, he said, raising his bottle, Steve raising it too.

 

“So, you’re a freshman… I did wonder why I hadn’t seen you around - said Thor after taking a big gulp – what’s your BA?” he asked, looking down at Steve interestedly, with eyes that almost burnt his skin with being so bright and intense; “I’m in Art History” he answered a bit dreamily, and Thor gave one tiny step closer and lowered his head, making Steve gasp nervously; “sorry? There’s so much noise”, he said with a soft chuckle, and Steve chuckled too, feeling light headed by the nearness of this perfect man. He could smell a deep, delicious cologne and see the different colors of his short beard: copper and gold and a few ginger ones, and had to stop himself from the sudden actual need to place a strand of hair out of his face and back behind his ear, where it was held a moment ago. “I’m in Art History. And you?” he repeated, conscious that the words “MARRY ME” were basically written all over his face. Thor smiled again, “Oh, I’ve always thought that’s a beautiful career! I’m in my last year of Biology, accentuated in Botany”, he said, and Steve smiled brightly at him; “that’s so cool! My mom would be your fan”, he said with a little laugh, thinking of his mother’s garden and all her attempts to grow plants and vegetables, the smell of the wet soil and sunny afternoons coming back to him all over again. Thor smirked, “would she? That’s good to hear”, he said teasingly, and Steve smiled with a tiny squint of his eyes; was Thor actually flirting? – “Why, though?”, added Thor after taking a sip of his beer.

 

“Oh, she’s always been into gardening and herbal healing –he shuddered at remembering all the herbal infusions he used to drink for his illnesses when he was younger - There’s lots of books about Botany in my house, I remember I used to look at the illustrations for hours when I was a kid”, he said with a soft smile, and felt a little cheesy about talking about his childhood so soon but Thor was looking at him as if he was saying the most interesting thing in the world. “That’s sweet, your mom sounds like a very neat person. And I still look at the illustrations for hours”, said Thor with a little chuckle and a shrug of his shoulders, and Steve smiled brightly, his soft laugh bubbling up from his chest, his cheeks feeling warmer. God, he was acting like a teenager with a crush, but he couldn’t help it. “So you know a lot about plants, too?” asked Thor, his face a bit lower so he could talk in a normal volume. “Not much –said Steve with a nervous smile- just what my mom used to tell me, along with what I learned as a consequence of copying the illustrations in my sketchbook. The ones with dissected plants were my favorite for some reason”, he said warmly, and received a beautiful, heart-warming smile from Thor. “Those are my favorite, too. I’ve always admired the people who make them… so, you can draw?” he asked, and Steve nodded, “yeah, I’m not an expert but It’s always been my hobbie” he answered. Thor made an excited face, “that’s so great! I love artists, I’d love to see your work sometime”, he said, placing his hand on his bicep for a second and causing Steve to blush, “yeah, yes, of course. Anytime”, he said a bit bashfully, which Thor answered with a way too charming smile, leading Steve to think Thor was too conscious of what he was doing to him, and it only made him even more attractive.

 

After a while, Bucky found them and made eyes at Steve right after greeting Thor. “Did you find Pepper?” asked Steve, and saw Bucky’s bittersweet expression, “yeah, I did, but I just found out she has a boyfriend”, he said, and Thor said quickly, “Pepper Potts?”. Bucky nodded with big eyes, “you know her?”, he asked; Thor laughed, “yeah, sorry man, her boyfriend’s a friend of mine, Tony. He’s in my year and she’s just entered, like you, but they’ve been together for years. I can understand why you’re attracted to her though, she’s a genius”, he said, and Bucky snorted, “tell me about it, and she’s gorgeous, too”, he answered, and Thor just smiled sympathetically. “Sorry, dude. I know you’ll find someone else who’s free and good-looking”, said Steve with a little pat on Bucky’s shoulder, not too sad for him since he knew Bucky would forget about his crush quickly. “Yeah well, what can you do – said Bucky with a shrug – I’ll go get a drink, be right back”, he said, and winked at Steve quickly before leaving. “How are you on your drink? I could use a refill”, said Thor, taking a look at Steve’s almost empty bottle, “yeah, me too”, he answered, shaking what was left in it since it was already warm. Thor chuckled, “let’s take care of that”, he said, taking Steve’s empty bottle and guiding him to the bar with a hand on his shoulder. After a minute they were both with new, cold drinks in their hands and Steve really couldn’t have asked for a better transition of events; he looked around and saw Peggy talking to some guy and he smiled at her even if she wasn’t looking. He loved being in college. “Cheers to a great night and a great start”, said Thor softly, raising his bottle and smiling at him. Steve smiled too; a great start, indeed. “Cheers!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm having lots of fun writing this, haha  
> Hope you enjoy it <3


	3. Chapter 3

It had been a nice, first school-year weekend; on Sunday, Bucky and Steve had gone to see their new city, looking for restaurants, coffee shops and some other attractions they had seen on the internet or had been told about during the week. Peggy and Darcy had joined them too, and it had been lovely, but none of the smiles and laughter from that day could top the smile that crept on his face every time he remembered the night before; nothing too special had happened other than talking to Thor, and judging by the way Steve saw him acting with the rest of the people in the party, he could almost assure he was just a very polite, amazing guy who was probably straight and just being nice to Steve for some reason. He didn’t even care if he was straight –well, he did, a bit- but he was happy just by having met someone so nice, smart and handsome, and he could really settle with being his friend; at least that’s what he told himself every five minutes. Anyway, having a desperate crush on someone had never killed anyone, right?

 

“Excuse me, good afternoon, I was told the punching bags are free for anyone to use?” asked Steve to the very burly man on the school gym’s counter. “Hi! Yeah, as long as they’re not being used for classes. You’re good now though, the boxing class ended 10 minutes ago”, he answered, and Steve smiled and nodded. “Great, thanks!” he said, starting to walk to the room on the back where the punching bags had been making eyes at him all the past week. He inwardly celebrated that there was no one there and chose a punching bag hanging in the middle of the room as he took out the gloves from his backpack, putting them on unhurriedly. It had been a while, at least a couple of months since he didn’t do this, and as soon as he gave the first punch, he could feel himself relax and his mind started to wander after a few minutes. It was Wednesday already, and he was filled with homework and he had to call his mom to at least say hi if he didn’t want to be uninvited for Christmas. He smiled softly at the thought of home, and suddenly missed the smell of his mom’s famous stew, the one she cooked every Thursday since he could remember and Bucky hadn’t missed once for at least ten years. Mom’s food and all those plants, and _God_ , Thor. He groaned; he had mostly managed all day to not think of the fact that Thor hadn’t appeared since the party, not that he had the obligation to, not even close, but Steve had naively expected him to maybe send him a friend request on Facebook, or at least find him in the campus, or the gym, but nothing. 

 

He thought of the way he had touched Steve’s arm more than once as they talked, and how those beautiful, alluring lips had made his lower stomach jolt dangerously with want, especially with a few beers on him. It irritated Steve to think he couldn’t be with him, not very sure of still thinking the same way he did a couple of days ago about settling with a friendship. He gave a set of harder punches with another groan, a sudden sting of resentment towards straight people for having it so easy running through him, and he tried to quickly let it go with another punch and a shake of his head, knowing he was being ridiculous. 

 

He tried to clear his mind with his breathing, and after a minute it was just he and the silence in his brain along with the soft rhythmic sound of his punches; for a second he felt back in Brooklyn again, Matt coming to his mind all of a sudden. He stopped his movements and stared at the bag, breathing in and out deeply, the sudden image of that sweet smile and soft, dark hair between his fingers projecting in his mind, memories that still came along with this whole boxing thing startling him a bit. He pressed his lips together tightly, transforming the gesture into a lopsided smile and continued with his routine, letting his thoughts dissolve within each minute he spent there, the heavy drops of sweat that ran along his back and forehead working as a cleanse for his mind and body.

 

He watched the clock hanging on the wall and realized he had been with the punching bag for about thirty minutes, and decided it was time to go do some lifting before he got too tired. He walked out the room and saw the bench press machine was free, so he quickened his step and prepped it with the weight he usually lifted, adding a pound more than the last time. After a few minutes, he realized he hadn’t missed Bucky while he was boxing but he certainly missed him when he was doing lifts, it was a thousand times more fun to listen to him rant about something than listening to the slightly obnoxious music they put in the gym, and he had forgotten his headphones. “It’s not too safe to bench-press without a partner”, said a deep voice accompanied by a big, strong hand suddenly holding the bar over Steve’s face. He quickly turned his eyes upward and felt his heart skip a beat, a soft gasp escaping from him as he recognized the upside-down very large figure of Thor, who was wearing a soft smile. “Thor!” he said, smiling, and placed the bar back in its rack, “how are you?” he asked with a slightly panting voice since he had been carrying a lot of weight and sat on the bench he had been laying down on. He looked up at him and tried not to look too excited. 

 

“I’m good, thanks! And you? –he asked with that caring tone that Steve had almost forgotten to be so genuine- you’ve been here long? I hadn’t seen you until now”, he added, and Steve smiled again, “I’m good too, thanks. I arrived around half an hour ago, but I was back there with the punching bags – he said, gesturing at the room with his head, and saw Thor lifting his eyebrows- and you? You've been here long?” asked Steve. Thor nodded, “Kinda. I was just gonna do some deadlifts and leave, but then I spotted you” he answered, and Steve wrinkled his nose, “leg day?” he asked. Thor laughed, “yeah, leg day –he said, wrinkling his nose too, causing Steve to chuckle- I’m starving, though, and it’s helping with my desire to not lift anything more", he added. Steve sighed, too used to being hungry all the time. “I’m starving, too”, he said with a little pout, and Thor chuckled and bit his lip, “you should ditch the bench pressing and we could go have something to eat, I know a great hamburger place very near”, he said, and Steve couldn’t believe what he was hearing; he couldn’t care less about bench pressing right now, not if Thor was actually inviting him to have dinner. He smiled at him hoping not to look too eager as he responded, “please kill me if I ever choose to bench press over eating a hamburger”, getting on his feet and smiling at Thor’s striking laugh.

 

“See, during the past two years, since they opened, I’ve had literally all their hamburgers and have come to the decision that there’s three of them that I love the same way and are the best of them all”, said Thor in a serious manner that made Steve chuckle as they entered the small, casual restaurant; it smelled delicious and there were mostly young people having dinner, a couple of them in their athletic clothes, too. “I see, that’s a tough decision. Which ones are they?” asked Steve as they walked towards a free booth. “Here – said Thor excitedly as he opened the menu placed on the table- this one, aaand… these two”, he said as he pointed them with his finger, the menu upside down for Steve to see. They had tons of options, and he was definitely going to choose one of Thor’s favorites because, well, the obvious reason, and also because he knew he’d never be able to choose one. 

 

“I can’t believe you’ve had all of these”, said Steve with a little laugh, and Thor laughed too, “once you have one you’ll want to try all of the rest, they’re delicious”, he said, causing Steve to blush just by hearing him say that word, and felt as silly as ever. He looked into the menu so he wouldn’t stare at the gorgeous man sitting in front of him and tried to pay attention to the ingredients of the hamburgers Thor had pointed out, and his stomach grumbled as he concentrated on picturing which one he wanted the most. “God, they all sound so good… which one will you have?” he asked, and Thor squinted, thinking. “I know what we can do”, he said, turning to see if there was a waitress around, and one came to them quickly. They each ordered their drink and Thor ordered the three hamburgers for them to share, causing Steve to smile radiantly; now _this_ was his type of man: hungry and generous. As the waitress left he turned to look back at Steve and smiled, “that way you can taste the three of them, and you look like you can handle more than one burger”, he said, and Steve nodded, smiling back at him, “I sure can, it sounds perfect”. 

 

“Hey, I wanted to ask you the other day, but I forgot… is there a special reason why you’re named Thor, or are your parents just big fans of Nordic mythology?” asked Steve, playing with his napkin. Thor laughed softly, “You know who Thor is? That’s new”, he said, and Steve blushed a little, “well, I just know he’s got something to do with thunder, and that he’s a big, Nordic god”. Thor nodded with a big smile, “that’s correct, he’s the god of thunder according to Nordic mythology, but he’s also considered the god of fertility –he said, and Steve blushed again at that. Jesus, he certainly made honor to his name- see, before I was born my parents had a lot of trouble on getting pregnant, they tried for years and they’d been told they wouldn’t be able to have kids, so when my mother got pregnant, she thought of it as some kind of miracle” he said with a little bashful smile, and Steve nodded and smiled too, waiting for him to continue. “Anyway, as I told you the other day, my family’s from Norway, I was born there, so my parents wanted to pay respect to their homeland's folk by naming me according to who used to be considered to be in charge of fertility, as some kind of grateful sign. Oh, and my mom says there was a big thunderstorm the day I was born, too”, he added with a little chuckle, and Steve chuckled too, endeared by the sweetness in Thor’s voice and the way he spoke, it was like he had the soul of a teddy bear. “That’s a phenomenal name story”, said Steve genuinely, receiving a big smile in return. 

 

“Thanks, actually in Norway it’s not too uncommon to be named Thor, so my first years living there I thought it was a fairly normal name, but when we moved to England I realized I was pretty much the only kid with that name in all of London”, he said, his voice turning into Steve’s favorite sound already, now that they could talk in normal volume. “Oh, you lived in London? That explains the slight accent”, said Steve, and Thor chuckled, “is it still noticeable?”. Steve nodded and laughed softly, “it’s nice, though, I like it”, he said, trying with all his might not to be too obvious. Thor smiled and bowed his head a bit as a “thank you” gesture, and continued saying, “we moved there when I was seven, then after ten years we moved here to Boston, because of my dad’s job”, he said with a little shrug. Steve nodded, “so your parents live here? You don’t live in the residences?”, he asked with a little frown; he had just assumed he lived in the campus residences too. “Yes, and no. My parents live here, but I moved to the residences on my second year, it just made everything easier”, he answered. “Anyway, enough about me. How are you liking Boston?”, he asked, and Steve’s answer was paused because their food arrived. Thor began slicing the three hamburgers in two, and Steve had to bite his lip to hide a flushed smile; it had all been too sudden and he was just realizing he was sitting having dinner with Thor, for crying out loud. He was too beautiful and amazing, and seeing him just cutting some hamburgers for Steve to try them all was too charming; he deeply, secretly wished this man was at least bisexual.

 

“Here you go –he said, placing the plates between them – enjoy! And you still owe me an answer”, he said light-heartedly, and Steve smiled at him as he took one piece. “I haven’t seen much of Boston, we arrived just a day before classes started but we did our tourist job on Sunday, and I really liked it… it’s different from New York, specially the vibe”, he said, and took a bite. He moaned inevitably after a few seconds; he wasn’t easy to impress, he knew good hamburgers - he was from New York after all - and these ones were fucking good. “Oh, this is good”, he said with a pleased face and voice, and Thor nodded triumphantly; “told ya”, he said, taking another big bite and cleaning his fingers with a napkin. “It was totally worth it to ditch my bench pressing routine”, added Steve with a contented sigh; Thor chuckled and shook his head, his eyes traveling to Steve’s chest for a second, “you don’t need it, anyway”, he said with a little impish smile, and Steve blushed and gulped thickly, not knowing if that was a compliment or what, so he just smiled and gave another bite to his burger. 

 

“So, you do boxing?” asked Thor, relaxing a bit more in his seat and taking a piece of another type of hamburger. “Not too much, I like it a lot though. I used to know just the basics but I learned a few good tricks from my ex back in high school”, answered Steve, becoming aware that he had mentioned Matt without really noticing, and he rarely did that. Thor nodded, “Oh, okay, I see. Did... she? –he made a politely doubtful face – know a lot about boxing?”. Steve chuckled –fuck it- he thought, and took a deep breath, “He. Matt – he said with a little blush, and noticed Thor raised his eyebrow just so with a tiny lopsided smirk- his dad was a professional boxer, and he learned from him since he was little, then learned some martial arts while he grew up”, he added, and Thor nodded again. “That’s cool, he sounds like it’s better not to piss him off”, he said with a little smile, and Steve chuckled, “yeah, he’s a bit of a badass”, he said, keeping to himself the comment about him being blind too, which made him a thousand times more badass, but he didn’t want to appear like he still had feelings for him by mentioning these type of things. Thor smiled lopsidedly again, “was it a bad break-up?”, he asked with a caring tone. “No, not really. We just wanted different things –he said with a shrug and began fiddling with his napkin again- and the last part of the relationship was more like being old friends than being a couple, anyway. It was a long break-up, but it was definitely for the best”, he said, looking back at Thor, who smiled warmly at him, and Steve smiled back, noticing something different in Thor’s look.

 

“So, are you dating someone right now?”, asked Thor nonchalantly, and Steve answered quickly –a bit too quickly, he realized- “no, I’m not. And you?”. Thor shook his head, “nope. Haven’t in a while”, he answered, and Steve had to use all his willpower not to cheerfully smile at his answer. How on earth hadn’t he dated in a while? He was a human Adonis, probably the most attractive and desired man on Campus and he was there, sitting with Steve, eating three hamburgers just because. “The longest and deepest relationship I have is with this restaurant”, said Thor after swallowing his last piece of burger, and Steve burst out laughing, “Yeah, well, these hamburgers won’t fail you, man”, he said, and Thor laughed too. “I know a lot of other great restaurants, what’s your favorite food?”, he asked, and Steve gave it a little thought before answering, “Italian, probably. But to be honest, I think it’s cake”, he said, and Thor laughed again, “what’s there not to love about cake? –said Thor with a playful shrug, then made an excited face- I know the perfect place! We should go this weekend, if you want”, he added, and Steve saw a little, tiny blush coming to Thor’s cheeks. He smiled brightly, “If it’s half as good as this place I’m sure I’ll love it”, he answered, and Thor smiled back, then took his cellphone out after a moment. “What’s your number? I’ll give you a call so we can make a plan”, he said so smoothly that Steve still couldn’t know if he was just being nice and friendly or if he was actually interested in him and just knew how to play it cool, and prayed for it to be the second option. He gave his number to Thor and felt like screaming in excitement all the way through; he couldn’t wait to tell Bucky.

 

-o-

 

“What? You had a date with Thor and you didn’t tell me? What’s wrong with you!”, asked Bucky in an excited and angry manner, causing Steve to laugh. “I was too busy trying not to drool out to death to remember to tell you where I was, and it wasn’t a date!”, said Steve, wanting to take a shower already but too excited to wait to talk about it with him. Bucky squinted, “yeah? Did you pay your own check?”, he asked, and Steve smirked and blushed brightly, “No. He paid”, he said a bit quietly, and Bucky laughed, “ha, busted! It was a date, man! Congratulations!”. Steve snorted and shook his head, “I’m not so sure, Buck. He’s so amazing and handsome, I just… I don’t know if he likes men, too, or if he’s just a very nice person who wants to be my friend, you know?”, he said, biting his lip a bit anxiously at the end. “Well, yeah, that’s an option, but it’s a bit unlikely… I mean, I like to make male friends but I’m not asking them out or paying their checks at restaurants, you know? That’s what I do when I’m interested in dating someone –said Bucky, and Steve nodded thoughtfully, a bright spark of hope forming in his heart- also, man, I know you’re a bit oblivious about your good looks and all but, trust me, if he likes men, he definitely likes you. You’re both equally ridiculously hot, and I say this as a straight man”, he said, and Steve laughed, “you think that because you see me with love, but thank you for helping me think I have a chance”, he said with a little smirk, and Bucky rolled his eyes playfully, “I mean it, dude. It was ridiculous all the times I was asked by my friends during the party on Saturday to introduce you to them. I’m lucky you’re gay, or I’d be doomed with all the girls who exist in this planet”. 

 

Steve snorted and threw himself on his bed, taking his pillow and covering his face, “I don’t care about them, I want Thor”, he said with a dramatic sigh, and Bucky laughed, “get it together, Rogers”. Steve laughed too, and turned to look at him, peeking under the pillow, “he asked me for my number”, he said, biting his lip to hide a smile, and saw Bucky’s big smirk. “You dumbass, sometimes I forget you’re still the same naive 12 year old boy. He likes you, get over it”, he said good-heartedly, and Steve laughed under his pillow before throwing it at him and walking towards the bathroom, “I’ll take a shower”, he said, and heard Bucky chuckle and say “have fun”, before he closed the door. He chuckled too and shook his head, and undressed from the gym clothes he had been wearing longer than he would’ve liked, noticing those were the sweatpants that emphasized his butt and bit his lip by thinking maybe Thor had noticed that, too. He rolled his eyes at himself with a little smile and got in the shower, immediately relishing on the thick, warm spray on his back and hair, and stood there for a few minutes before doing any cleansing. He closed his eyes and immediately thought of Thor’s handsome face, and ran some of their conversations in his head, remembering what Thor’s reaction had been when he mentioned he used to have a boyfriend. He was very casual about it but his expression had changed a bit, and had looked more relaxed, even. 

He thought of the way those lusciously big arms flexed and tightened with his movements, and how his muscles moved when he had pulled his hair back in a man-bun that, really, every men magazine would’ve killed to have a picture of to show how it’s supposed to be done and how to look absolutely perfect wearing it. He sighed at the over-all thought of Thor, his deep voice and gentle eyes, his gorgeous hair and lips and how tall he was; he couldn’t not wonder how he’d look like naked, he bet his abs were absolute perfection, and judging by his size, he was probably big everywhere. God. He sighed again and tentatively moved his hand downwards, running his fingertips softly along his hipbone and lower stomach, then down and around his own half erection. It just took a couple of caresses and pumps and the mental image of Thor to make it a full one, and he instantly groaned as he imagined him there with him, under the hot water, kissing Steve’s neck and lips, his hair wet and his perfect body towering over him, taking him by the waist and turning him over and against the wall – he bit his lip with a tiny moan as he tightened his hold, and spent the next few minutes alone with his fantasy, enjoying the thrill bubbling up from his heart and letting it run all along his body.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit of Matt Murdock never hurt anybody, right? :)
> 
> Hope you enjoyed <3 thank you for reading!


	4. Chapter 4

“You know, I’d be totally in love with the Roman Architecture class if the teacher wasn’t so…”, started to say Peggy as they walked down the stairs of the building, stopping her phrase to make a thinking face. “Outrageously unexciting?”, suggested Steve with a little smirk, and Peggy laughed, “exactly that”, she said, looping her arm on Steve’s in a friendly manner, and it made him feel like some sort of prince to walk with her like that. “I know. The rest of the teachers are great though, so I guess it was just the odds of destiny to have a boring one”, said Steve, and Peggy nodded, “yeah, well. Darcy was smart enough to miss this lesson, too –she said, her eyes down at their feet as they walked –oh, and she said we could meet in the cafeteria for lunch”, she added, looking up at Steve and then looked behind him, “oh, look, there’s Thor”, she said casually.

 

Steve froze, “where?” he said with a gasp and almost cried in pain because of the sudden turn of his head, “right there”, added Peggy with a little chuckle and pointing at him, but Steve had already spotted him walking out from the library; he was very hard to miss. “Let’s go say hi”, said Peggy with a little pull of his arm, and Steve just walked along with her, a little smile coming from him as he noticed how handsome Thor looked when he was unaware of being watched; he looked calm and had an air of superiority, probably because of the security he had in himself, but not in a cocky way, it felt more like you’d want to build him an altar and just praise that face and muscles forever. 

 

“Thor!” said Steve a bit aloud and hoping not to sound too eager, and Thor quickly looked around and found them easily, a big grin coming to his face after the surprised look. “Hey!” he said cheerfully, opening his right arm as he walked towards them with a couple of big steps, and hugging Steve casually, which he was more than happy to return, just like they had said goodbye the night before. “What are you doing around here?” asked Steve as he savored the feeling of that broad hand against his back, restraining a whine when Thor moved to say hello to Peggy with a kiss on her cheek. “Yeah, I thought all the science guys were on the other side of the campus”, said Peggy with a little smirk, and Thor chuckled, “yeah, we have to be there because of the labs. This side’s prettier though –he said, looking around- and I had a free hour so I came to the library”, he said raising the two books he was holding in his arm, a bright smile on his face. 

 

“Oh, which ones did you get?” asked Steve, placing his hand on the books that were pressed against Thor’s chest and pulling them down softly to see the covers. “Oh, uhm, just some thesis things”, he kind of mumbled, but it was a bit late; the bottom book, which was bigger, did look like some Botany thing but on top of it Steve instantly recognized a small book he had read around a year ago: Art through the ages. He quickly looked up at Thor with a bit of a puzzled look, and almost felt sorry for him because of how blushed he was, and how he was looking down at Steve like a deer in the headlights. He then understood, and felt like almost melting into a puddle of tenderness right there, wanting to hug and kiss him and never let go; Thor actually liked Steve, he was sure of it now. He went and rented an art history book for crying out loud, and Steve felt bad for Thor about having finding that out, so he tried to say it with a look, and offered him a sweet, soft smile as an apology but also as an understanding and knowing sign; he wanted to let Thor know he was completely into him, too. 

 

Thor seemed to understand Steve’s smile and gentle look, and relaxed a bit; with a little chuckle he bit his lip and looked down at the art book. “And also, you know, something interesting to read at nights”, he added, smiling back at him. Steve nodded, “that’s a great book. Let me know what you think when you read it”, he said, and Thor smiled beautifully at him with a small nod, making Steve weak in the knees. “I definitely will”, he said, and after a moment he looked down at his watch, his eyes going slightly wider, “damn, I have class in three minutes and I have to cross all the campus, I have to leave”, he said with a bit of an apologetic look, and Steve and Peggy nodded, “go! We’ll see you later”, said Steve with a little laugh, pushing him playfully from his elbow, and Thor smiled at the two of them with a little nod, “It was great to find you!” he said, then turned away and started jogging, turning to wave at them as Steve and Peggy said goodbye. They looked at him for a few seconds, Steve enjoying a bit too much of the gorgeous view of Thor jogging away.

 

“He’s very handsome”, said Peggy after a moment they had started walking again, and Steve just smiled and looked at his feet, feeling too happy about what had just happened and silently agreeing with his friend. He felt Peggy’s eyes on him but he didn’t look back; “You have his number? I’d like to ask him out”, she said, and Steve felt an instant pit on his stomach, “what? No!- he said, looking at her quickly- No. I mean, I don’t have it”, he said, trying not to sound too panicked. Peggy stopped and squinted at him, then smacked his arm, “I knew it!” she said excitedly with a triumphant smile, a confused Steve looking back at her, “ouch! What?”, he said, and Peggy snorted, “yeah, right, “what?” – she said, and smacked his arm again, a bit lighter this time- you like him! And I don’t want his number, I was just testing you”, she said, and Steve snorted too. “I don’t - I don’t like him”, he said, a bright blush coming to his cheeks, not able to hide a little nervous grin. Peggy crossed her arms and smirked, “uh-huh, okay”, she said, and rolled her eyes before continuing walking, looping her arm again with Steve’s, who felt a bit bashful about being caught but also felt instantly relieved about Peggy knowing about his preferences. “Was I too obvious?” he said after a silent minute of walking, and Peggy just chuckled, “no, not really. He was more obvious than you, anyway”, she said with a little mischievous smile, and Steve blushed all over again, almost giggling. “You think so?” he asked, opening the cafeteria door for her; “Pffft, trust me, I’m sure –she said, turning to look at him- Oh God, you two would be the sexiest couple to ever exist”, she added, walking towards the table where Darcy was sitting, and Steve smiled blushingly, “Thanks? I’d conform with just being a couple, though”, he said, and Peggy smiled at him. “Hey, Peg… would you please not tell Darcy? I’ll tell her myself some other time”, he said, not feeling like talking about this right now in the cafeteria, and Peggy nodded with a soft “of course”.

 

-o-

 

He looked at his laptop’s clock and realized he had been working on this essay for more than two straight hours, and thought he definitely needed a break, and he needed food. He had gone to the gym early and was clean and on his pajamas since about five p.m. to start working on this essay. As he was stretching on his chair, a loud thump sounded on the door along with a laugh and a knock, so he quickly got up and opened to see who it was and what was going on. It was Darcy, and she entered very quickly and closed the door with a giggle, placing a finger on her lips, “shhh”, she said. She looked out through the peep hole and after a moment she added, “hi, I’m sorry, can I hide here for a bit?”, and Steve chuckled, “of course. What’s going on?”. She turned around and rested her head on the door with a smile, panting a bit since she had been apparently running, “nothing, my roomie and I dared the two boys next door from ours on a squirt gun fight”, she said, holding her tiny squirt gun up for Steve to see, and he just noticed her hair and shirt were slightly wet on some spots. He laughed, “I’ll take it you’re winning”, he said, and Darcy just chuckled and walked into the room to sit on Steve’s bed. 

 

There was a slight smell he could notice too, and he knew it was completely possible, so he asked, “Darce, were you drinking?” with a little squint. She bit her lip with a faux guilty face, “just a bit”, she said, but actually looked a bit drunk, and Steve just shook his head with a smile, “I’ll make some coffee”, he said, already craving for it since before Darcy came around. “Oh, wait, but first put this on or you’ll get sick”, he said, looking into his closet for a shirt, handing it to her so she wouldn’t be wearing the wet one. She just nodded and Steve politely turned around for her to change, then she just lay down on the bed. After a minute he noticed she had fallen asleep, so he continued with his essay for a bit, drinking a cup of coffee and just eating some cookies he had around, deciding he’d go have dinner when Darcy woke up, wishing to let her sleep a bit more. After a while, he heard some fiddling with the door and Bucky came in; Steve waved at him silently and Bucky instantly looked at Steve’s bed. “Oh, that’s new. You do know there’s a girl on your bed, right?”, he said a bit quietly and leaving his backpack on his bed. Darcy was facing the other side; “it’s Darcy, she’s drunk”, he said with a little laugh, and Bucky snorted, “I like her more and more each day”, he said with a proud tone, and grabbed a couple of books from his closet, “I have to leave again, we’re on studying session but I needed these”, he said, lifting them. Steve nodded, “sure, man. Good luck, see you later”, he said, and Bucky waved him good-bye, “please have something to eat, both of you”, he said before closing the door, and Steve smiled warmly at that. 

 

He stood up and served a cup for Darcy, placing it on the nightstand and kind of lied down next to her, placing his hand softly on her shoulder, “Darcy? Wake up, you’ll feel great after you drink your coffee”, he said, and even if he knew she wasn’t that drunk, he felt like taking care of her as much as he could. She slowly opened her eyes and looked up at him, coming out from her sleep with a little yawn, “oh, I’d forgotten I was here”, she said with a chuckle, and placed her forearm on the bed to lift herself up a bit, taking the cup Steve was offering to her, “thank you”, she added with a little smile, and Steve smiled back. They talked as they drank their coffee, and Steve was actually grateful that she had arrived there, he was enjoying her company and craved the break from work. He looked at how his shirt looked so big on her, and it was one of his tight ones, so he smiled tenderly, “it’s really cute how my tight shirts are so huge on you”, he said, and Darcy looked up at him with an unreadable expression. 

 

He didn’t know when or how it happened, but he suddenly had a small hand on his neck and a pair of full, soft lips on his own. He gasped and after just a tiny moment he softly took Darcy’s cheeks and pulled apart, feeling how she had pulled at his lower lip in that exact moment; “Darcy, Darce… God –he said quickly as he pulled apart, confused and embarrassed – oh, sweetie, I… I’m gay”, he said softly, looking straight at her and feeling his cheeks go intensely hot; her eyes got bigger and after a moment she pulled apart and quickly got off the bed, mumbling, “oh God, I’m so sorry”, and Steve managed to stand up and stop her from going out of his room, since she was heading for the door. 

 

“No, Darcy –he said, taking her arm and hugging her from behind to stop her from walking, not knowing what else to do. He would’ve felt funny by hugging her in the way that he imagined a sloth would look like hugging a tiny cat, but he was way too concerned about the situation to laugh about that -please don’t get weird”, he added softly, and felt Darcy soften in his arms. “I’m not – I won’t get weird, I don’t mind that you’re gay, I just didn’t know and I’m way too embarrassed”, she said, and Steve answered quickly, “please, don’t be, I don't mind about it. I’m sorry I hadn’t told you before”. Darcy snorted, “that doesn’t mean I have the right to kiss you, we’re friends. I’m sorry, I don’t know why I did it”, she said, and Steve pulled back to sit on the bed, Darcy landing on his knee. He saw her blush, “I mean, I do know why I did it, I’m a bit drunk and you’re hot”, she said, and he chuckled, then she chuckled too. “You’re actually way too hot to be straight, I should have known this”, she said, sounding a bit more like herself, and Steve chuckled again, “I’m sorry, though. Trust me, if I was straight I would’ve never been able to stop you”, he said, and Darcy turned to look at him a bit questioningly.

 

“You’re gorgeous, Darce, and smart and sexy. The only excuse to not wanting you that way is being gay, and I don’t know if even that’s a valid excuse”, he said with a little shrug and a smile. Darcy chuckled, “keep saying those things and I’ll kiss you again”, she said jokily, and Steve laughed. “Sorry, I mean it though. You’re wonderful, and I want us to be normal with each other, I want you to be comfortable with me”, he said; he knew Darcy wasn’t in love with him or anything like that, she had just had a moment of passion and alcohol was always a good helper with inhibitions, but he did worry about her being embarrassed around him, he didn’t want that at all. “Nah, don’t worry. It won’t be the first time I survive from an embarrassing situation, I just need some food and not talking about this ever again –she said- And you’re wonderful, too, silly”, she added, placing a chaste kiss on his cheek. Steve smiled and nodded, “fair enough”, he said, and Darcy stood up from his knee, “let’s go have dinner”, she said, taking Steve’s sweatshirt that was lying around and putting it on as she walked to the door. Steve chuckled and took another sweatshirt from his closet and put it on on the hallway after closing the door. 

 

“I’ll send a message to Peggy”, he said, taking his cellphone out. He had one unread message from an unknown number and his heart skipped a beat as he quickly thought it might be Thor’s,

 

\- I feel slightly bad about being so entertained by reading all the juicy stuff from the lives of these poor guys (the Renaissance artists), haha. Hope you’re having a great night! -Thor.

 

Steve held his breath as he read it, laughed merrily with what the message said and couldn’t stop smiling as he read it again, then realized Darcy was staring. “Oh, sorry, I had an unread message”, he said with a little blush, his smile still there, and Darcy smirked, trying to look at his cellphone, “from who?”, she asked with a raised eyebrow. Steve just gave up, it was the second time this happened during the same day and he had learned from earlier that he shouldn’t be foolish enough to try and hide something from these two girls. “Thor”, he said, raising an eyebrow of his own and with a little smirk, and saw Darcy’s expression change as she pulled the strings together, her eyes going wide as she spoke a loud “oh my God!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!
> 
> Thank you for your comments and kudos, they always make me smile <3 and especially thank you for reading! I hope you're having as much fun as I am writing it!
> 
> xo  
> Sadie


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